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Abstract
In many quarters there remains a resistance to integrating research and preventive efforts relative to alcohol and other types of drugs. Alcohol and other drugs are treated as separate and distinct phenomena that have little relevance for each other. The objections to developing combined programs are typically based on what are perceived to be important differences among different types of drug-using phenomena. While it is true that the psychopharmacological effects of various substances are different, and that the societal reactions to abuse of different substances may vary, and that the legal status of alcohol and some other drugs is different and that patterns of use may be different [1], this does not mean that there is an absence of strong epidemiological similarities that might form a sound basis for more integrated approaches to efforts in the areas of research and prevention. The purpose of this paper is to examine recent epidemiological research that strongly indicates the existence of important similarities between patterns of use of alcohol and other drugs. I will contend that these similarities make a good case for combining research and programming relative to the prevention of abuse of alcohol and other drugs.